Search engines are a part of daily life. Set up your search engine marketing correctly, and it can also be a part of your daily business growth.

Search engine marketing, or SEM, is one of the most effective ways to grow your business and reach new customers.

While you must employ organic strategies to attract traffic over the long term, sometimes you can’t properly compete on the search engine ranking pages without putting money behind it — and that’s where SEM comes into play.

For instance, consider what happens when I type “hiking boots” into Google:

REI clearly has an effective SEO strategy, as its “hiking boots” page ranks first organically. However, paid advertising appears at the top and dominates search results.

With 49% of surveyed shoppers saying that they use Google to find new products, your business’s products or services must appear at the top of a SERP when a user searches.

This isn’t always possible organically, particularly when other businesses pay to ensure their products appear above yours. When this is the case, you must invest in a SEM strategy.

What is Search Engine Marketing (SEM)?

How an Ad Auction Works

SEM Strategy

Best SEM Tools